ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 13.20

13.20

“Monks, in times past, in this fortunate eon, when people lived as long as twenty thousand years, and the totally and completely awakened buddha possessed of insight and perfect conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the tamer of persons, the charioteer, the unsurpassed one, the teacher of humans and gods, the blessed buddha known as Kāśyapa was in the world, there lived a certain brahmin in Vārāṇasī.

“One day his wife conceived, and after nine or ten months had passed, she gave birth to a child. As he grew up, he studied letters, brahminical customs and conduct, the syllables oṃ and bho, ritual purity, ritual actions, the collection of ashes, holding the ritual vase, the Ṛg Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sāma Veda, the Atharva Veda, how to perform sacrificial rites, how to lead others in performing sacrificial rites, how to give and receive offerings, recitation, and recitation instruction. Trained in these procedures, he became a master of the six types of brahminical activities, and in time he mastered the eighteen sciences.

“One day his father developed a deep admiration for the Buddha, and a deep admiration for the Dharma and the Saṅgha, and he took refuge and maintained the fundamental precepts. Then one day he died, transmigrated, and took rebirth among the gods. In misery the brahmin’s son suffered, lamenting, beating his chest, wailing, ‘My father, my only father!’ and roaming all about.

“Sensing this, his father went to him and said, ‘My son, you needn’t mourn for me. Don’t mourn for me so.’

“ ‘Who are you?’ asked the son.

“The young god replied, ‘I am your father.’

“ ‘Where were you reborn?’ asked the son.

“The young god said, ‘I took birth among the gods.’

“ ‘What action did you take to be born there?’ asked the son.

“ ‘I served the Buddha and the rest of the saṅgha of monks,’ the young god replied, ‘and I took refuge and maintained the fundamental precepts. You needn’t mourn